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Showing posts from July, 2025

The US SEC launches Project Crypto, an initiative to "modernize" securities regulations to allow for crypto-based trading (Tanaya Macheel/CNBC)

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Tanaya Macheel / CNBC : The US SEC launches Project Crypto, an initiative to “modernize” securities regulations to allow for crypto-based trading   —  The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday debuted “Project Crypto,” an initiative to modernize securities rules and regulations to allow for crypto-based trading. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/USXqBsW

Sources detail the rise and fall of Builder.ai, as founder Sachin Duggal's alleged financial transgressions fueled the first big bust of the generative AI era (Bloomberg)

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Bloomberg : Sources detail the rise and fall of Builder.ai, as founder Sachin Duggal's alleged financial transgressions fueled the first big bust of the generative AI era   —  Sachin Dev Duggal helped Builder.ai reach a $1.5 billion valuation.  Then its board ousted him amid allegations of inflated revenue and the startup filed for bankruptcy. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/1O3bARK

A look at Big Tech's AI talent wars with massive compensation packages; sources: Meta told potential hires they would be allotted 30K GPUs for their AI research (New York Times)

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New York Times : A look at Big Tech's AI talent wars with massive compensation packages; sources: Meta told potential hires they would be allotted 30K GPUs for their AI research   —  Over the summer, Matt Deitke got a phone call from Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's chief executive.  —  Mr. Zuckerberg wanted Mr. Deitke … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/gXtdmnz

A timeline of Pamela Anderson's relationships, from marrying Tommy Lee to sparking dating rumors with Liam Neeson

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Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson and the premiere of their movie "The Naked Gun." Kristina Bumphrey/Getty Images Pamela Anderson has found love many times in her life. She and her "The Naked Gun" co-star Liam Neeson sparked dating rumors while promoting their film. Here's a look back at her romantic history, from Kid Rock to Julian Assange. When it comes to falling in love, few in Hollywood can match Pamela Anderson . Since the late 1980s, Anderson has been linked to hard rockers, surfers, and even Julian Assange. Most recently, Anderson, 58, sparked dating rumors with her "The Naked Gun" costar Liam Neeson , 73. The two played coy about their offscreen relationship while appearing on "Today" to promote the movie, but according to People , the stars are in a "budding romance." Reps for Anderson and Neeson did not respond to a request for comment. Here's a look back at Anderson's dating history. Jon Peters Jon ...

Showrunner, an Amazon-backed AI streaming service, launches Thursday, letting users paying $10-$40/mo. to create their own animated shows or build on others' IP (Lucia Moses/Business Insider)

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Lucia Moses / Business Insider : Showrunner, an Amazon-backed AI streaming service, launches Thursday, letting users paying $10-$40/mo. to create their own animated shows or build on others' IP   —  - Fable Studio has gotten funding from Amazon for its AI streaming platform, Showrunner.  — It shared a deck that explains … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/hVyLinM

YouTube is rolling out age estimation tech in the US to identify teen users and serve more age-appropriate content, regardless of the birthday given at signup (Sarah Perez/TechCrunch)

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Sarah Perez / TechCrunch : YouTube is rolling out age estimation tech in the US to identify teen users and serve more age-appropriate content, regardless of the birthday given at signup   —  YouTube on Tuesday announced it's beginning to roll out age-estimation technology in the U.S. to identify teen users in order to provide a more age-appropriate experience. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/oNjPJUp

The US Army and its allies flew a HIMARS missile launcher in and out for fast, far-reaching strikes

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TK US Army photo by Sgt. Perla Alfaro The US Army and its allies practiced getting HIMARS in and out quickly on an Indo-Pacific island. Keeping land-based, long-range precision strikes mobile could be critical in a conflict. Rapid deployment and frequent movement increase survivability while allowing for increased range. The US Army and its allies recently pulled off a rapid missile launcher deployment to a remote Pacific island. It was a high-speed test of fire-and-move tactics and how they would bring long-range firepower to a future fight in the region. The test occurred last week and built on US military efforts to boost range, flexibility, and survivability for HIMARS and other weaponry in the region. During Talisman Sabre 2025, a joint exercise in Australia, a Royal Canadian Air Force C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft flew a US Army M142 High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System , or HIMARS, and Australian soldiers to Christmas Island for the test. The HIMARS laun...

Fable, a startup offering AI-generated security training for employees, comes out of stealth having raised $31M, a source says at a $120M valuation (Thomas Brewster/Forbes)

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Thomas Brewster / Forbes : Fable, a startup offering AI-generated security training for employees, comes out of stealth having raised $31M, a source says at a $120M valuation   —  With a $31 million raise, Fable is aiming to take on multi-billion companies with its AI-generated security training targeted at employees who need it. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/hPifXjz

Ryan Reynolds' ad agency, Maximum Effort, was behind the Gwyneth Paltrow Astronomer ad

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Ryan Reynolds is the chief creative officer at Maximum Effort, the ad agency behind Astronomer's viral ad featuring Gwyneth Paltrow. Tristar Media/WireImage Gwyneth Paltrow appeared in a now-viral ad for Astronomer, a tech company. Astronomer had earlier gone viral after its CEO and head of HR were filmed at a Coldplay concert. Ryan Reynolds' company, Maximum Effort, helped produce the promotional spot. Gwyneth Paltrow isn't the only big name attached to Astronomer's cheeky response to " Coldplaygate ." Ryan Reynolds' company, Maximum Effort , announced its involvement with a lighthearted X post on Sunday. "Thank you for your interest in Maximum Effort, @astronomerio! We'll now get back to what we do best: motion pictures with Hugh Jackman, Fastvertising and Wrexham football," the post said. "We'll leave data workflow automation to ̶ G̶w̶y̶n̶e̶t̶h̶ ̶P̶a̶ Astronomer. Reynolds launched Maximum Effort with his business par...

AIUC, which offers enterprises insurance policies and audits for AI agents, emerges from stealth with a $15M seed led by Nat Friedman at NFDG (Sharon Goldman/Fortune)

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Sharon Goldman / Fortune : AIUC, which offers enterprises insurance policies and audits for AI agents, emerges from stealth with a $15M seed led by Nat Friedman at NFDG   —  Today, the Artificial Intelligence Underwriting Company (AIUC) is emerging from stealth with a $15 million seed round led by Nat Friedman at NFDG … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/QczC7jR

Trump strikes a deal with the EU on tariffs

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  Andrew Harnik/Getty Images The US and EU agreed to a trade deal on Sunday. The deal sets a 15% tariff on most European goods imported to the US. The EU will invest $600 billion in the US in addition to existing investments. The US and the EU reached a trade deal on Sunday after negotiations in Scotland between President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The deal sets 15% tariffs on most European goods imported to the United States, a significant reduction from the 30% Trump had threatened earlier, but more than the 10% the EU originally sought. In return, Trump said the EU would ramp up investments in the United States. "The European Union is going to agree to purchase from the United States $750 billion worth of energy," Trump told reporters. "They are going to agree to invest into the United States $600 billion more than they're investing already." The EU also agreed to purchase a "vast amount" of mil...

Berlin-based Buena, which is building AI-powered software to automate property management tasks, raised $58M, including a Series A led by GV (Cate Lawrence/Tech.eu)

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Cate Lawrence / Tech.eu : Berlin-based Buena, which is building AI-powered software to automate property management tasks, raised $58M, including a Series A led by GV   —  Buena has acquired 20+ firms since 2023, with triple-digit growth and a product-first approach targeting 30,000 under-digitised players. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/YRTBDPj

The Johns Hopkins University Press will license its authors' books to train AI models, citing concerns that "the window may be closing" for making AI deals (Ellie Wolfe/The Baltimore Banner)

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Ellie Wolfe / The Baltimore Banner : The Johns Hopkins University Press will license its authors' books to train AI models, citing concerns that “the window may be closing” for making AI deals   —  The Johns Hopkins University will license its books to train proprietary large language models, an advanced form … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/pGAJtYM

Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun clarifies his role after the company hires another chief AI scientist

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Yann LeCun is Meta's chief AI scientist, leading its Fundamental AI Research department. FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP Meta said Friday that Shengjia Zhao, co-creator of ChatGPT, is now the chief scientist of its Superintelligence Labs. AI industry watchers questioned how this would impact Yann LeCun, Meta's longtime chief AI scientist. LeCun clarified his role in a LinkedIn post on Friday. The more the merrier at Meta. The AI talent wars took another turn on Friday when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Shengjia Zhao , co-creator of ChatGPT and the former lead scientist at OpenAI, is now the chief scientist at Meta's Superintelligence Labs . "In this role, Shengjia will set the research agenda and scientific direction for our new lab working directly with me and Alex," a statement shared to Zuckerberg's Threads account said. "Shengjia co-founded the new lab and has been our lead scientist from day one." The statement said Meta chose to f...

A look at the tensions between Meta, Apple, and Google on whether apps or app stores should check if a user is a minor, as states work on age verification bills (Emily Birnbaum/Bloomberg)

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Emily Birnbaum / Bloomberg : A look at the tensions between Meta, Apple, and Google on whether apps or app stores should check if a user is a minor, as states work on age verification bills   —  Tell us how AI is shaping your news experience.  Share your feedback  —  The biggest tech companies are warring … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/RKhMGwu

Sources: KKR is in talks to buy ST Telemedia Global Data Centres in a deal that could value the Asian digital infrastructure provider at more than $5B (Bloomberg)

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Bloomberg : Sources: KKR is in talks to buy ST Telemedia Global Data Centres in a deal that could value the Asian digital infrastructure provider at more than $5B   —  KKR & Co. is in talks to buy ST Telemedia Global Data Centres in a deal that could value the Asian digital infrastructure provider … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/abz4WUE

'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' ending gives a tantalizing hint about 'Avengers: Doomsday'

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Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman in "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." Marvel Studios Warning: Major spoilers ahead for "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) is part of a thrilling ending to the movie. The movie also teases how The Fantastic Four will be part of "Avengers: Doomsday." " The Fantastic Four: First Steps " follows superheroes Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), his wife Sue Storm ( Vanessa Kirby ), her brother Johnny Storm ( Joseph Quinn ), and their friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they take on their biggest adversary yet, Galactus (voiced by Ralph Ineson). With several versions of "The Fantastic Four" told over the decades, director Matt Shakman skips the origins of how the foursome gained their superpowers and dives right into the action, which is heightened by the fact that Sue Storm is also pregnant. That news complicates things by the middle of the movie, when The Fantast...

The NHTSA closes its 14-month investigation into a series of minor collisions and unexpected behavior from Waymo vehicles, and won't take further action (David Shepardson/Reuters)

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David Shepardson / Reuters : The NHTSA closes its 14-month investigation into a series of minor collisions and unexpected behavior from Waymo vehicles, and won't take further action   —  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday it has closed a 14-month investigation into a series of minor collisions … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/7Cohr9N

In a memo, Satya Nadella addresses the "enigma" of layoffs while "Microsoft is thriving", saying the transition into the AI era "might feel messy at times" (Todd Bishop/GeekWire)

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Todd Bishop / GeekWire : In a memo, Satya Nadella addresses the “enigma” of layoffs while “Microsoft is thriving”, saying the transition into the AI era “might feel messy at times”   —  Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed the growing internal unease inside the tech giant Thursday morning … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/mJMr0EG